Beware of Negatives

Start with a negative at your peril! You may be writing something you didn't mean at all.

Look at this sentence:

I didn’t pay her a compliment because she is my sister.

Does this mean that you didn’t pay a compliment to your sister, or that you did pay her a compliment but for a reason other than your relationship with her?

Misunderstandings of this kind are common when sentences begin with a negative statement. This thought provoking one is attributed to a writer and comedian called Alan Whitney Brown.

I am not a vegetarian because ... (you are probably expecting something about it being natural to eat animals or that you would miss a juicy steak too much). In fact you get this elegant reversal:

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.

Beware of negatives – or enjoy their possibilities – but whatever you do, make sure your meaning is clear when you need it to be.

Comments

• This is allied with those sentences that start back to front eg Use the fire escape in case of fire.

  By Gillian Bond on 2010 04 14